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Kildrummy

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A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875

Etymology
The ancient name of this parish was Kin-drumie from the Gaelic Ceann-druim, which means "the head of the ridge" on which the old castle stands, and is a very appropriate description of its position. Other etymologists say that it signifies "the little burial mount," or Cill-druim, which would correspond with the burying-ground at the church, but not with the traditionary name of the parish.

Boundaries
The parish is bounded on the north by Auchindoir and Kearn; on the east also by Auchindoir and Kearn, and a small portion of the parishes of Tullynessle and Forbes, which lies south of the Don; on the south by the parishes of Leochel-Cushnie, and Towie; and on the west by a part of Towie and the parish of Cabrach.

Extent
From the south boundary with Leochel-Cushnie on the top of Callievar, to the Silver-fords, on the burn of the Buck, the distance is seven miles in a direct line; and from the lowermost point of the parish on the Don, at Logie, to the western boundary with the Cabrach at the Garbit burn, the distance, also in a direct line, is over six miles. The whole area is computed to be 10,396 acres.

Topography
That part of the parish which lies to the south of the Don is rugged and hilly, and the hills rise from the river into the mountain of Callievar (Coille-bhar, which signifies "the point, or extremity of the wood"), and is 1,746 feet above sea level. The lowermost point of the parish on the Don, opposite Logie, is about 560 feet; the confluence of the Mossat Water with the Don is 572 feet; and the church of Kildrummy is 644 feet. The old Mossat Toll-bar (near the eastern boundary) is 640 feet; the parochial school, on the northern shoulder of Ardhuncart, is 687 feet; the old castle of Kildrummy is 853 feet; and the Elph-hillock is 832 feet above sea level. On the south eastern division of the parish, north of the Don, there is the steep rounded hill of Ardhuncart, with the flat hill of Drumnahive on its northern base. But, with these exceptions, and from the water of Mossat on the east, to the bottom of the western bounding hills, and from Kildrummy Castle, and the Don on the south, to the burn of Clova on the north, the whole valley is but slightly undulating and comparatively flat. From the Coks' and the Gardeners' Hills, which are on the south-west of the castle, the western bounding hills rise in one continuous chain to the source of the Garbit, one of the sources of the Doveran, and 1,734 feet above sea level. The more northerly range of hills which bound the valley on the west rise from Wester Clova by "John Reid's Cairn" and the ridge of the "Kebbat," into the mountain of the Buck, which is 2,368 feet above sea level, which has for its eastern base the rocky ridges of the Braidshaw, and the lower hills of Towanreef in Auchindoir, which bounds the parish on the north. The lowest point on the Cabrach hill road, at the influx of the burn of Glenny, with the burn of Clova, is 696 feet above sea level.

[A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875]